Best and economical range of imported marble in/near Bangalore

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I am building an independent house and need to decide on the flooring option. After looking at the options available such as vitrified tiles, Jaisalmer yellow marble, Indian marble, kota stone, granite etc I am tempted to go with imported (italian/Turkey etc) marble atleast for living and dining to keep the overall cost within the budget.

Most of the imported marble starts from 300rs, is it possible to get good imported marble for 150 to 200rs. Even smaller size is fine with me as it is going to be polished and the joints will not be visible. I looked around for Indian marbles but it is matching the looks of imported marble. If anyone knows about Indian marble that can be used in place of imported marble please share your input. Also it looks like most of the marble outlets are in Jigani but since there are so many names, can anyone suggest a reliable dealer in Jigani for buying imported marbles.

Also is it worth going to Krishnagiri as there are some marble factories in Shoolagiri such as Millenium marble, JB Marmo etc who are having outlets in the factory. Do they have any minimum order size. (I have gone through the previous threads discussing about flooring options but there is not much discussion on Italian/imported marbles). Thanks in advance.

[Visualizer]

Look for Katni marble particularly Katni biege and green with straight lines. You can check at shops on Bannerghatta road. In Bangalore this will be 80 to 125 rs per square feet. Katni is one of the hardest and densest stone from MP.

Other Indian stones which look similar to Imported marbles are Chittorgarh red ( looks like levent red marble) and Banswara ( Indian staturo), tendukheda ( leapord marble). They are named after place of origins however in Bangalore I couldn't find Tendukhed marble all others I have seen on Bannerghatta road.

Thing is in India colour/pattern in marble was considered a defect so Katni sells very cheap in North ( 45 to 65) and no one wants to spend 120rs on this to give good polish and mostly it gets installed with normal 35-40rs 3 layer polish. Secondly Indian tradition demands regular pattern so marbles with stripes are cut to make diamond patterns where stone opens like book and gives symmetry. So ask for straight line irregular layout.

Avoid Italian or Imported marbles as they are porous and full of epoxy. All the smoothness is due to 7 layer diamond polish and if you are willing to spend approx 120 rs per sq feet installation and polish cost you can get the same on Indian marble. Italian marble looks good because it is prefilled with epoxy and polished in factory before it is put in showroom before you whereas Indian marbles just came straight from gangsaw and you need to pour bucket of water to see the actual colour and pattern.

Before buying marble find good layers and polishers ask for references from stone seller themselves. Most of the good layers are Rajasthanis insist on 7 layer diamond polish and crystalizer (lithium silicate based)

Finding good layers in Bangalore is a hard ask IMHO and this was the reason I abandoned plan of Katni marble and going ahead with light color granite despite chances of rust.

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Thanks for your reply. I am looking for flooring with less veins and patterns and in beige/light colour which is available mostly in imported marbles. Jaisalmer marble has strong yellow colour and Kota mostly comes in dull colour so the rooms do not look bright even after polishing. Looking for something in between these two. From what I have seen in images Katni marble has strong veins/lines. Banswara marble looks good and can be considered if I can find a lot with lesser lines. Can you please share any outlet names in Bannerghatta road that I can visit to see the Indian marbles.

Regarding Italian marbles it is not just the showroom look but even the finished houses looks good with Italian marbles. Given that they are being used in many villas and commercial places it should continue to look good for many years is what I believe. Owners who have used Italian marbles can comment on this.

Light colour granite looks good and some of them have marble looks. Please update once you finalise the granite and the name of it as I would like to consider it if I am unable to find Indian or imported marble in my budget. I am willing to spend money on polishing if the results come out good.

[Visualizer]

Well they don't continue to look good for many years that is the key point. Italian marble is highly porus and soft stone. I have seen in my office building the Italian marble in the lobby getting replaced for rennovation in about 5 years. That is the story in most tech parks and hotels however in homes it may be a pain.

They look good after installation because the marble is polished again after laying and again crystellizer is applied and sealed with epoxy.

Talk to any installer and ask charges for installation of Italian marble you will get quotes approx 3x of charges for Indian marble. Tell him you want same polish as Italian marble on Indian marble he will laugh and say not needed why to spend more on polish then stone cost etc.

This is because on costly stone they feel it is worth applying costly polish. For Indian stones they leave just 2 rounds of cutting with 80 grit and 200 grit pad and wax layer on top. However I have seen people spending more on installatio and getting excellent finish with Indian stones,

In nutshell if you are seeing any marble for cheap price be it 100 rs Indian or 350 Rs Travertino from Turkey/Italy be prepared to spend approx 200 Rs per sq feet ( 120 labour + 80-90 for other material like White Cement/Adhesive, lithium silicate crystelizer and epoxy grout etc on top of it). Most marbles are laid either with white cement or ROFF-ST09 white adhesive as grey cement changes the colour. If you can find lower labour rates it will be very good but is very difficult task in Bangalore.
The laying and polishing cost is constant though in Indian stones you can lower it.

PS: About the shops at Bannerghatta road I will try to dig out cards I collected however you need not depend on it. just park your vehicle and roam on foot there are so many marble shops lined up and many of them have Indian stones.

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I called up few marble dealers near Mico to enquire about Indian Marbles.
Galaxy Marbles has Katni, Toronto and Jaisalmer yellow stones starting from 160, Prathibha marbles has only white marbles starting from 150, Marble Palace international has around 20 varieties of Indian marbles starting from 110.

I also checked with Sipani marbles and they have very few Indian marbles including Katni in price range between 100 to 250 and they cut and polish the marbles in their factory. Here the advantage is that we get factory polished marbles and can be directly laid like Granite saving on polishing cost. However I am not sure if marble can be laid without any gap and proper levelling. Attaching some pictures of Indian marbles they have.

[Visualizer]

The top one in picture is Katni biege IMHO that is best. And no I think laying it just like granite will give bad finish. Get it polished and crystallized. Quality wise it is best stone.
By polishing the joints and edges get merged and gives typical luxurious look of marble over hard industrial look of granite.

Last pic I think is udaipur pink marble this is cheapest marble in North India mainly due to colour.

Jaisalmer stone looks stunning but stricktly speaking its not marble and needs epoxy. Thes e days they sell polished jaiselmer stones as well.

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Thanks for the input and will be definitely useful during the marble selection. If you find any good marble layer please share the details here.

[Visualizer]

Hello ganpath_blr

Yesterday I went to ShoolGiri for granite purchase saw many Indian marbles there
The shops are lined across the Highway each one of them 300 to 400 m apart so you need to go in your vehicle and spend a day. Go early in morning and search for stones of your liking and prices till evening. Best is to make 2 day program day 1 survey and selection day 2 early morning go to same shop check every stone and get it loaded for transport. Checking and measuring stone is time consuming and you will need to stand and minutely observe for 3, 4 hours

In granite i didn't find much price advantage but wider selection was available.

Caution: while picking stone make it a point to remember the grain/pattern they showed you in beginning and check each and every stone for same pattern. Usually slabs of same block should be uniform but these guys mix them they put 3-4 stones of good grains /pattern at top and later will have same stone but of inferior patterns.
This is very common way to cheat. Also if there is any crack / hole in a stone it is messured leaving the crack.
Example if there is slab of 10'x 4' and there is a cack from side upto one feet you should pay for 10'x3' and this may work to your advantge as you will get material for window cill or Skirting free. But if you are not careful and pay for 10'x4' it is a loss for you as installer will cut this portion off.

Best is to buy from some processing factory there instead of retail outlet to ensure uniformity but it is difficult we went to a factory found a stone of liking and after an hour manager told this lot is already sold.
Factories are export processing units which cut large slabs on gang saw which are 6' to 10' wide and of 2x - 3x price the slabs which have cracks etc are sold to retailers who cut them into 3' or 4' wide slabs and sell them to people like us.
For normal homes with 15' x 12' tyoe size gang saw slab size is not of much use as they need to be cut unless you have giant size rooms.

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Hi Visualizer,

Thanks for sharing your granite buying experience, please share the granite model you have purchased and the factory name as it will be useful for other forum members.
Yes I have seen many marble factories near Shoolagiri such as Millenium Marbles, JB Marmo, Madhusudan. Called up couple of them and it looks like most of them deal with Italian and not Indian marble. Need to do more research on this. Checked with one of the marble dealer near Sarjapur and he mentioned for Indian marbles Adugodi/Mico is a good place and not Jigani as Jigani is more famous for granite than marbles.

[Visualizer]

Ganpath_blr as I said before these big factories only deal with gangsaw and that doesn't work out for retail buyers .
As most of these gangsaw cuts are for export market and cut as per order to be fulfilled so they can't sell a portion unless it is rejected or they have cut more than order.

Look for smaller shops around these factories.few
places where I saw good Indian marble

1. forever stone next to M&G factory they have good quality marble. In the front Italian is displayed by towards back Indian is placed.

2. NJ marble and stone (12 km form place 1) next to Fateh marble factory.

Many others like international Stones Stonex etc between these two but can't recall all names.

Trust me spending time patiently is the key . It has to be like how women buy sarees/dress checking whole stock and then purchase one. Take your wife along as ladies have keen sense of pattern and colour.

Name of granite is unimportant its personal choice and same stone can look good or bad based on veins and streaks in particular slab and Of-course your own eyes. Usually good looking slabs of same variety will cost more.

I bought 3000 sq feet material
burgundy granite for flooring and also deep orange madurai stone for window cill as colour matched to a vein running between burgundy. Both are weaker granites prone to rust so need to apply back sealer before laying and lay in white cement and possibly sealer after lying as well.

Transport 7K unloading and loading 4/- per sq feet ,
Got 2 steel stands of 4K rs as well which I can return and get back money after use.

From wherever you purchase stone get unloading labour as well because unloading and stacking is art. Normal laborers at site will damage lot of stuff.